Sunday, 29 March 2009

Socials, a friend and a book

Its been a hectic week...and vibrant, social and professionally gratifying one.

The transient spring in all its glory is here but for so short a while. As I key in this post, sitting on my favourite couch by the window...its almost midnight and the sensuous smell of the parched earth just moistened by falling raindrops makes me feel complete...at least for the moment.

Last week I found time to hang out with my favourite friend after a long hiatus. She is my soul sister and we have been through similar turmoils at the same time in our lives. We share each others' pain and understand each other perfectly even though we don't talk to each other for months. We also share the same stoical interior, masked with layers of exuberance and infectious humour which is sometimes the only make up we wear.

I am looking forward to seeing her again next weekend for a city fashion show which promises to be typical of my favourite cheese and wine evenings.

Another task accomplished this week...I finished 'The lost flamingoes of Bombay' written by a youngish lad by the name of Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi. The critic of the book who wrote the review read has selectively singled out the lascivious, sleazy phrases and discussed them in depth, leaving out more meaningful parts of the book. I know these are the days of dumbed down journalism and I am so very happy I am no longer part of this tribe..

The book has no plot. It is a narration of four or five lonely people among Mumbai's creme de la creme. Shanghvi has borrowed from events in the country which are pretty recent, like the Jessica Lall case, the attack on North Indians in Mumbai and one can event identify the characters in real life. The main characters are no doubt fictitious, but the peripherals are borrowed heavily from real life, which makes the book quite predictable.

But now, the good part...For a young man, Shanghvi shows powerful flashes of brilliance in his writing which reflect wisdom beyong his years. I savoured each of these ideas and word play languidly, turned them upside down and inside out and yet, they never failed to fascinate me... Here are some gems:

The strength of a marriage was measured not only by how it was upheld, but also by how people responded to its betrayal...

You were an ally to my solitude.

Claire made him feel indispensable, irrestible even. But he noticed she was like that with most people; her charm was an equal opportunities employer.

Rhea slipped beneath the creaking floorboards of Karan's memory.There is a lot more...which you will find out once you read the book.